


I'll Be In DC All Summer

by randomramblesff



Series: But I Let You Go [2]
Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Community - Freeform, F/M, FBI, Internship, Jeff and Annie, Post-Finale, Washington DC, annie edison - Freeform, jeff winger - Freeform, jeff x annie, season 6, season 7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-04
Updated: 2015-11-06
Packaged: 2018-04-30 01:32:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5145341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randomramblesff/pseuds/randomramblesff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(PART TWO OF THE "BUT I LET YOU GO" SERIES) "I leave in a week, I'l be in DC all summer" is what Annie said when she entered the bar, exclaiming she'd been accepted for an internship at the FBI. What happened during the summer though? A post-finale set after "Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television" S6E13 of Community.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Week One

He texts to check that she’s landed okay; he texts to check if she’s at her new shared apartment okay; he texts to check if she gets to her first day at the FBI okay; he texts to check if her first day at the FBI _went_ okay… but then he stops.

It’s weird, because it’s not like he was being obsessive – he was just curious to see how the start of her new life was going, but then all of a sudden he just went dead quiet as if to say, ‘Well, that’s that.’. So, Annie texts Jeff at the end of the week just to check in because after all, they were still just friends, and that’s what friends did.

 _ANNIE:_  One week down :) How are you?

 _JEFF:_ Congrats – all good here.

 _ANNIE:_  Cool…

Annie wants to tell him everything, because if she was back at Greendale experiencing such an amazing opportunity, he’d have to put up with hearing every last detail but for some reason, she just leaves it at ‘cool’. She tells herself that she’s overthinking things and that Jeff is probably absolutely fine about things between them – they’d only kissed once again, it was just a casual way of saying ‘I appreciate you’, right? Nothing more…

…but the truth was – he _was_ being obsessive and his sudden silence and drop of conversation was his way of holding back. All he could think of was _her_ , and whether her roommate was keeping her up at night, or whether her bus ride to work was too stressful every morning, or whether she’d met that ‘ridiculously good looking, cool FBI agent who gets to carry out a gun and skip queues with his little badge’ yet, or whether she’d regretted the kiss in both the study room and that night at his place. He _was_ being obsessive and he knew it, he just couldn’t let _her_ know it because she needed full concentration.

* * *

 

So he started of thinking of ways to distract himself.

The first idea Jeff has is to take a run in a different direction to the ‘303’ apartment that was now officially Britta’s very own place. Instead of taking a right turn out of his apartment, he started taking a left turn, heading left again in the opposite way to Greendale, and then right so he didn’t end up in the very same direction he was trying to ignore.

On the first attempt at this though, it hardly works because his phone that’s tightly strapped to his upper arm keeps vibrating with social media notifications that all ping up as ‘Annie Edison’, so he has to stop at a bench and turn every single one of them off and by the time he’s done, all of his thoughts are on her again anyway.

He starts to think he’s going slightly insane. It’s ridiculous really because it’s not like she’s going to be gone forever and it’s not like the _possibility_ of them trying something out is out the window, but he can’t stop himself.

The second idea he has is to only text or message her at set times and for a set amount of time, just to check up on her, as a friend, as usual. But of course that doesn’t work out either because she soon picks up on the fact that he’s only messaging at eight o’clock and their conversations only last past three messages each…

 _JEFF:_  Hey :)

 _ANNIE:_  Hey! It’s been such a busy week, but I’m LOVING it. Seriously love it, so glad I’m here, but of course… I miss you and everyone else a LOT. How have you been?

 _JEFF:_ Good, I’m glad to hear it. You should be proud :) I’m okay, but don’t worry about it.

 _ANNIE:_  Now I am worried about it… you sure you’re okay? X

 _JEFF:_  All good – got to go, dinner’s ready!

 _ANNIE:_ Okay this is getting weird now – you only text me at 8pm, you only send three messages and your only excuses are that your dinner’s ready or that you have to go the gym. Are you seriously okay?

 _JEFF:_  I’m fine. Sorry, just got a lot on my mind but please don’t worry. If you want, you can send me a 3-page essay with all of your FBI adventures so far – I promise to read every word.

And so of course, she _does_ send him a three-page essay and he’s finished reading every word within five minutes of her sending it over because he has a deep desire to know _everything._ It suddenly feels as if he’s there, in her little DC bubble, wrapped up in a cosy blanket of her internship success (and horror) stories, and even though it’s the last thing he needs in terms of keeping his mind off of her, he suddenly feels perfectly at peace with the fact that she’s a flight ahead with two-hours’ time difference.

 _To: _ Annie Edison _  
From:_ Me (Jeff Winger)  
__Subject: RE: My 3-Page Essay

 _Content:_ _  
_ I promise I read every word – send me another one when you can, made me miss you a little less… if that makes sense? I mean it in a good way – feels like you’re here.

Jeff Winger  
Fundamentals of Law at Greendale Community College  
DON’T PRINT THIS – SAVE THE TREES!

Annie sits up in bed, sipping on a hot chocolate when he replies, happy to know that he’s not ignoring her, even if his little messaging schedule had caused confusion. She replies again, understanding exactly what he means, and then all of a sudden it’s midnight and neither of them have stopped typing back and forth.

Jeff also sits up in bed, but instead of smiling gleefully, he pouts a little, gritting his teeth at the same time and lets out a slow sigh, realising his mind has once again wondered back to Annie.

“Dammit.”


	2. Week Two

“What do you do to get your mind off of things?” Jeff asks Britta as he slides his scotch glass over to her for a refill.

He knows it’s a little extreme to be asking such a question not only to Britta but also because it’s only _just_ gone _two_ weeks since Annie (and Abed’s) departure. He tells himself that he’s just ‘curious’ to know what she does, in case he ‘just so happens to need some ideas in the future’.

“Hang on a second, are you asking _me_ for advice? You’re the one who would literally rather _die_ than have me give you advice.” Britta said, the bottle of scotch hovering over Jeff’s glass, a couple of tiny droplets dripping down.

“That’s not true… I would literally rather be slowly tortured to death rather than have me give you advice.” Britta rolled her eyes at the statement, finally pouring out his drink and sliding the glass back.

“So, why _are_ you asking me? Because you know, if you ask me once, I’m only going to want to dig deeper in the future.”

“I’m asking you as a friend, and I’m only going to stay here, in your bar, if you answer me wholly _as_ a friend.” Jeff sips back a bit of scotch before Britta rests her elbows on the opposite side of the bar.

“Deal, but you can’t laugh.” Jeff nods, sipping more of his drink back in preparation.

“I make changes. Big ones. I’m not just talking change my alarm clock to one hour earlier, I’m talking, _change_ my alarm clock. You have to go all out and refresh yourself. Switch from scotch to something with a bit more _razzle-dazzle_.” Britta says, using her hands to emphasise her point.

“So you’re saying, I should change my choice of alcoholic beverage?” Jeff teases.

“You know what I mean. I mean, maybe, you need to switch something up in your life. Go out and do something you’ve always wanted or at least try to steer yourself in that direction. It’s help me a couple of times.” Britta says, leaning back down on the bar, watching Jeff sway his glass around in the air.

“Makes sense.”

* * *

It makes so much sense that when Jeff gets home from ‘The Vatican’, he’s on the kitchen table, writing down a list of things he’s always wanted out of life. He hesitates as he writes down the last four items on his list, wondering if deep down he’s only putting them down out of the fact that he’s aging and it seems normal to do so, but then a flash back of his imagination hits him.

_“Sebastian did some drawing…” Annie said, turning to him on the couch._

_“Sebastian? Let’s look at him!”_

_“Sebastian!” “Sebastian!” They both call out._

_“I did it!” A little blonde haired boy scurries out from a door behind them, waving his hands madly in the air._

_“Aww, back to your child area!”_

Jeff gulps, wondering what he actually thought a ‘child area’ was. But he writes the four final notes down anyway, even if they’re not what he needs right now, or what _she_ needs right now. He shakes his head, remembering that he’s meant to be making changes, so that he’s _not_ thinking of her.

 _12.) HOME_  
13.) WIFE  
14.) DOG  
15.) KID

He looks around his tiny apartment, remembering the time that Annie had burst in at Christmas, making him throw feminine curtains up at the windows and placing random pillows throughout the room. He laughs under his breath, thinking of the question that Abed had asked him about Annie having moved in, and how actually his question was understandable and didn’t seem that odd of an idea. He looks back to the sheet of paper in his hands, tracing his eyes down it, over the random wants and ideas like having a sports car and to have been sky-diving, but then he re-reads the word ‘HOME’ and he can’t help but circle it. He jots the pen down firmly, pulling his laptop towards him, quickly typing away… he stays there all evening and until his eyes are sore from the screen.

_Web Browser History > Searches > Today > “2 bedroom houses to rent in Colorado near Greendale”_


	3. Week Three

Annie doesn’t need distractions as her mind is one hundred percent focused on her internship that _she’s_ the one now not messaging Jeff (or anyone else for that matter). Every day is filled with several trips to the filing office, several coffee runs and several hours of filling out information on different cases under the instructions of her colleagues in higher up positions. It suddenly hits her on a weekend around three weeks after her internship started, that she’s not been keeping her ‘old’ friends up to date.

Annie lay back on her bed, her roommate carefully strumming the strings of her guitar in the living room, tweaking the pitch every now and again as Annie skimmed through her messages, the most recent ones from her new FBI friends. She realises that her last message to Jeff was ‘7 Days Ago’, and her heart flutters slightly. He’d messaged her of course, just to drop in, but she’d always brushed it away because she’d always be in the middle of something or her battery would be a percent away from dying, or her _own_ literal battery would also be a percent away from crashing out (onto a single bed covered in pillows).

So when her heart did start to flutter, she all of a sudden became flustered and almost felt a bit home sick. It was the only way to describe how she felt really, going from one week always talking to your friends and peers to the next, only texting when you had a spare moment to yourself. Annie looked over at her alarm clock, her eyes trying to fight the urge to shut down at the time that flashed back at her: 01:49 AM. She felt guilty, but then of course there _was_ a two-hour time difference between DC and Colorado… so she attempted to video call Jeff; and it worked, even at the late time it was.

“Hey, you okay?” He said as usual, his hair looking slightly ragged but in the way that he always seemed to pull off. Annie smiled back, already feeling slightly more relaxed at the sight in front of her.

“Yeah… sorry for not texting or whatever. It’s just been a _really_ crazy time; you know?” Annie scrunched in her eyebrows a little, her toes twitching as she sat crossed legged, her laptop in front of her.

“Yeah, I know, don’t worry about it. So… have you solved any murder mysteries yet?” Jeff scratched the back of his head, realising that the distractions he’d been making probably hadn’t been working, it was just the fact that she’d been quiet for such a ‘long time’.

“Err, Jeff, I’m only an intern. I file things away and watch over things, I’m hardly a full detective just yet, but I appreciate the support.” Annie flicked her hair back over her shoulder, revealing the straps of her tight fitting vest top… Jeff tried to not stare for too long.

“Right…” Jeff mumbled.

“What about you? Anything fun happen for you this week?” Annie asked cheerfully, genuinely interested to hear his response.

“Nah… not really. Just been passing the time… trying to get things off my mind.”

“Oh… what’s been… _helping?_ ” Annie asked, unsure as to whether that’s what he meant.

“Err, well, I actually started looking at some new places...” Jeff gestured around his room.

“Oh god, you’re not living in your car again are you?” Annie blurted out, realising how silly that sounded seeing as he was sat on the edge of his bed, _in_ his house, _definitely_ not in his car.

“Err… does it _look_ like it?” Jeff smiled, knowing she didn’t really mean to say it.

“But, why? I thought you liked your place?”

“I do… I just think I could do with somewhere a little bigger… you know, change things up and all.” Jeff sat back a little, waiting to see what she thought of the idea.

“Oooh, is there a lucky lady you’ve been hiding? Why would you need somewhere bigger?” Annie teased, shaking her shoulders which in turn shook something else… Jeff tried not to stare once again.

“Definitely not… and I just think it would be nice… that way I could have guest stay over, _finally._ ” It definitely wasn’t because he wanted her to be part of his life and maybe one day that room could become a nursery… _definitely not,_ he reminded himself, thinking how extreme that would be… it was partly true, but another part of his mind was also thinking _at home gym._

Annie hummed in agreement, smiling just a little.

“I’ll, err, send you some links if you want… let me know which one I should go for.” Jeff suggested, also genuinely interested to hear _her_ response because as he knew, his thoughts and dreams were _partly_ true, so he needed to know her opinion, right?

* * *

 

Annie spent her Sunday on her bed, a hot chocolate in hand and her laptop carefully placed on her lap. She clicked through to an email from Jeff that had three links directing to three different two-bedroom houses. She flicked through all of them, making a mental list of pros and cons to each of them, and then a while later, realised that her hot chocolate was empty and her housemate had slipped out… and that her web browser was now home to about forty different tabs of forty _more_ houses and apartments that she thought could be suitable for Jeff.

She wasn’t really sure why she’d gone so far as to look _herself_ but as somebody who enjoyed home décor and Pinterest planning, it was quite relaxing to think through all of the possibilities.

Another while later, a video-call notification pinged up from Jeff, and she immediately clicked ‘Accept’ hoping that her laptop wouldn’t freeze with all of the processes it was currently undertaking.

“Hey!” She smiled happily, her smile soon fading slightly as she looked at her appearance in the little rectangle in the corner of the screen.

“Did you get to look at the email I sent you?” Jeff said, flicking his phone around in his hand as he rested back on a chair, his legs propped up on the table. He soon slid his phone away, stretching his arms back behind his head.

“Yes, I did actually. I think they’re… great, and you should definitely look at them… it’s not like I looked at like three dozen more anything…” Annie scratched the back of her head and scrunched up her nose at his bulging eyes.

“Right… well, I’m kind of leaning on the second one?” Jeff said, unsure as to why he wanted her final opinion… but who was he kidding, he always wanted her final opinion.

“The second one… the second one… err…” Annie paused to click open the right tab, “…oh yup, yeah, no, no, that is nice, you’re right. I agree.” Annie smiled back again to which Jeff nodded back.

“Cool. Thanks.”

“No problem, you know I like that kind of thing.” Jeff chuckled a bit, leaning forward in his chair, swinging his feet back down to the ground.

“I actually have to go now… going out with Britta and Chang. Speak soon?” Annie raised her eyebrows, a weird feeling growing in the pit of her stomach at the words ‘going out with Britta’.

“Oh, cool, well, have fun!” She called out enthusiastically, before settling down in her pillows when the screen cut blank.

“Hmm.” Annie said quietly, the sound emphasising the fact that her apartment was completely silent and empty.

* * *

 

“So Jeff, how’s this whole plan of yours going? You know, the one where you’re trying to ‘get things off your mind’?” Britta asked, throwing quotation marks up with her hands.

“Ooooh, what’s got you down Wingman?” Chang butted in, leaning forward with a bright facial expression at the thought of gossip.

“Don’t call me that Chang and… nothing.” Jeff said, swishing around his scotch.

“Pffft! You came to me the other day all sad and quiet… there is definitely something up. I was a friend that night, so fess up!” Britta cried out, realising her voice had raised slightly more than it should have.

“No, I’m not telling you. I’m fine, leave me be, okay?” Jeff put his glass down and threw his hands up in the air.

“Come on Winger, we’re your friends, you can tell us… we’re cool.” Chang said, pushing Jeff further.

“Yeah, what he said.” Britta pointed towards Chang, making Jeff’s eyes roll. He gestured his glass towards a waitress, trying his best to ignore his very pushy ‘friends’.

“Fine, be like that… Britta and I are just going to have to guess. What do you think Britta?” Chang turned to face her, crossing his arms and swishing his hair slightly. Jeff rolled his eyes once again.

“Hmm, let me think… well it _could_ be that you slept with some cute girl and sadly you can’t remember her name, but oh wait, you have her panties so that’s okay…” Britta paused, pulling a face at Jeff, making him uncross his legs and sit up more. “So what else could it be? Hmm… ooh ooh, hang on… could it be something a little unexpected? Like… ooh, you’re missing Abed in a weird brotherly way that you’re too afraid to admit? Or… maybe it’s Annie? HUH! Oh, it _is_ Annie!” Britta started violently pointing at Jeff, as he clenched his teeth and sighed.

“Oooooh, Winger’s missing little Annie because he never got the chance to get her in his bed… _nice!”_ Jeff rolled his eyes once more at Chang – his sentence not even making any sense.

“I cannot believe you. Seriously? You’re moping over _Annie?”_ Britta lent forward, genuinely surprised.

“I’m not _moping_ over Annie, okay? Drop it.”

The waitress finally returned with Jeff’s refill, breaking Jeff and Britta’s ‘conversation’. Jeff gulped it back quickly; the glass empty once again. He regretted it though, his throat burning slightly at the large volume of alcohol now slowly sliding down the back of his mouth.

“You _so_ are! I knew something went on between you. You were all flirty eyed and then she stayed over at your… oh my god, did you _sleep_ with Annie?!” Britta pulled back slightly, shocked once again.

“What?! No, don’t be ridiculous. She fell asleep on my couch, it’s no big deal.”

“Doesn’t mean you didn’t sleep with her Winger; we all know that.” Chang pointed out.

“I. Didn’t. Sleep. With. Annie.” Jeff pushed a finger down onto the table between them, hunching his shoulders in and emphasising each word.

“You’re not denying you were all flirty eyed though…?” Britta said questioningly.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” _Dammit,_ Jeff thought. Of course he knew what she was talking about.

“Oh come on! ‘Season seven, who knows? It’s out of our hands, too many variables…’” Britta quoted Annie, once again throwing up imaginary quotation marks.

“Now _you’re_ the one reading into things.” Jeff pushed down on the table again, remembering the time when he’d denied the ‘Annie of it all’.

“What about you’re little coffee date though? You two seemed really eager to get away on your own.” Jeff inhaled, gritting his teeth some more.

“ _Yeah!_ ” Chang chimed in, not actually having a clue about the ‘coffee date’.

“I can’t even believe you think there is something going on!” Jeff threw his hands up again, trying his very best to disguise the fact that there really _was_ something going on – even if he didn’t have a precise definition as to what that was.

“Hmm.” Britta squeaked, looking the other way, her eyebrows raised.

“What was that?” Jeff asked, his voice still raised.

“Oh nothing.” Britta said, returning her eyes to Jeff, tilting her head and sipping back at her drink. Chang sniggered and clapped a little, still not really understanding what was going on. Jeff gritted his teeth, stood up and pulled his jacket with him, pushing the bar door open and leaving Britta and Chang to their own devices.

He drove home and as soon as he slumped into his couch, he pulled out his phone, changed his lock screen picture from a picture of himself and Annie to a landscape and hovered over the ‘Delete All’ button his recent messages to her, but instead, he started typing. He was only asking her this question because of Britta, and if he knew the real answer, he knew he could prove her wrong… but even through his slightly blurry alcohol filled mind, he knew in the very back of it, there was a quite probable chance that he wouldn’t be able to prove her wrong and that he was right… there _definitely, definitely,_ was something going on.

 _JEFF:_  What’s going on between us?


	4. Week Four

Annie hadn’t checked her phone since the weekend, mainly because her week at her internship started off in a blur of paper work towers and coffee runs so when she finally scrolled through her messages during her lunch break, her heart started to flutter and suddenly all the sounds and noises around her were becoming more and more overpowering. She stood up and pushed herself away from the table where her colleagues and sandwich sat, and walked outside. She wasn’t really sure why the question had hit her so heard, but it was if subconsciously, she’d been waiting for this question to arise.

Annie steadied her breathing, re-reading the message over and over, before composing herself, turning her phone off and heading back inside. _Answer it later,_ she told herself. _He can wait,_ she told herself once more.

She tried her best to push the thought away, but even people around her were wondering why she seemed so _off_. It wasn’t normal for hard-working, full-focused Annie to be in such a daze. So she excused herself for not feeling well when the questions came in thick and fast, explaining how unprofessional she felt.

Annie climbed into the shower as soon as she got home, only just noticing that her roommate was home early too, making out with her boyfriend on their couch. Annie propped her phone by the window, turning the volume up as much as she could and listened to whatever shuffle mode had for her – hoping and praying it skipped out ‘Annie’s Song’ and ‘Roxanne’.

Luckily it did, but the shower hadn’t really worked. She’d thought it all through, knowing she was being overly dramatic and blaming it on hormones. _Why did he need to know? Why didn’t he explain why he was asking? He said he’d let me go… but then when we kissed… and now it feels even more confusing…_ she let out a slight ‘Grrr!’ at herself as she brushed her hair down angrily.

\---

In Colorado, Jeff was sat on the sofa, a random TV show playing in the background as he dug into a Chinese take-away that he’d only ordered to make himself feel worse than he was already feeling. Ever since Britta had brought the topic up, the question that had yet to be answered kept floating around in his head, over _and_ over again. _What’s going on between us?_

“Hey… it’s me… I didn’t know whether you wanted to talk so, I rang your home phone to leave a message… so, here I am… ringing. I’m going to be honest and say I don’t really know what’s going on, and I mean… I never really have… Maybe you were right? Relationships _are_ complicated but… I think we might have left this one too long… I don’t know, I haven’t really thought about it… for a while, actually. I think there was a time when, we both _knew_ , but then something changed… maybe it was when you graduated and… we didn’t really spend much time together then, seeing as you were off being a lawyer or whatever.

I guess, after that I just started to let go, like you did, but in a different way… I started to think that it really was just some silly little thing in my head and if I’d waited four years, there was no point in waiting another, right? And then when you started saying things like… _‘it’s platonic shoulder holding’,_ I guess I… got a little mad, trying to trick myself into believing it was just me reading into somethings like a… _‘love struck teeny-bopper’_ … right? But I kind of felt like deep down you were… sort of pushing me away?

So… I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know… and I don’t _need_ this… I’m _here_ and I’m doing what I have to do because if I don’t I never will, and you know that. I _know_ that you know that, and… I don’t know, Jeff. It _sucks…._ oh… just so you know, that’s not the phone cracking up, it’s me because I’m crying and I don’t even know why… err! I just don’t know… I don’t know if I’m coming back…

I just want you to know that… I just want to say… thank you. Thank you for just letting me do this and… being an amazing friend… even if friend isn’t the right word… I just want you to know that… and I’m sorry… but I _need_ to do this. I’m not saying no, or whatever… I don’t even know what I’m saying and now I’m just rambling and the phone has probably cut off by now but… I _do_ miss you. A lot. I’m sorry…” Annie’s voice broke as she began to finish the message, not knowing that Jeff had sat, listening to every single word.

Just before she cut off, he stood up and unhooked the phone from its hub, lifting it up for one second and quickly dropping it down so she knew that he was there; holding back his own teary eyes through gritted teeth.

\---

A while later, Jeff found himself outside the 303 apartment, gritting his teeth as to whether it was a good idea to do what he was about to do, especially seeing as it involved sharing something private to Annie… but Britta was right… they were friends, so he could let her know what was on his mind from time to time. So, he knocked, and a few moments later, the door swung opened to a wide eyed Britta.

“Do you want to know what’s going on between Annie and I?” He said, his face expressionless.

\---

Jeff had recorded Annie’s message on to his mobile and played it Britta, waiting for her to express some sort of remark or reaction… but instead she listened silently, not saying a single word until Annie’s voice faded out. He gulped a little, hoping it wasn’t too loud for Britta to notice how nervous he now was.

“Wow.” Was all Britta could manage. She was genuinely surprised at how much detail Annie had gone into and how genuine it sounded… it was weird, she had to admit that she’d always had an itching feeling that there _was_ something there between Jeff and Annie but now she really understood. Why did anyone really need to know what was going on when they hardly knew themselves?

“Yeah.” Jeff mumbled, not really sure where the conversation was going or whether it was a stupid idea to come over to her place in the first place.

“Do you… _love_ her?” Britta asked from the arm chair across from him. Jeff bit the inside of his lip as he pouted slightly, his eyes in a stare at the thought. _Love…_ Jeff thought. It was a strong word, right? Jeff had never really admitted he’d loved someone before; he’d said it once before it felt easy to just blurt out back then, but now… this was different. His heart beat started pumping in his ears and his hands started to shake.

Britta rolled her eyes at how long he was taking to process her question but she was patient, because that’s what she’d learnt in her psych classes anyway… to be patient with people.

Jeff looked away but when he did his eyes of course landed on the door of Annie’s old room. He rolled his eyes at _himself_ now, realising how stupid this all was. He stopped bouncing his knees and just said it.

“Yeah, I do.”

\---

A while later, Jeff and Britta had drowned themselves in several bottles of random spirits and alcoholic beverages, both sat on the couch, wondering what on earth they were doing with them(drunken)selves.

Britta crawled over Jeff slightly, their faces inches apart when her head started to throb and she suddenly realised what she was doing…

“What are we doing?” Well, she didn’t _quite_ realise.

“I don’t know…” Jeff mumbled.

“You love _Annie.”_ Britta said, slouching back down by Jeff’s feet.

“Yeah…” Jeff sat up himself, sitting beside her, his hair ruffled and his voice croaky.

“You were going to marry me… ugh.” Britta moaned at the thought.

“Yeah… why would I do that?” Jeff shrugged.

“You suck.” Britta turned her head to Jeff, laughing a little.

“No, you suck.” Jeff responded, also laughing a little… and once again, before she knew it, Britta was back over Jeff, her hands on his shoulders.

“Oh woops, I guess I’m so drunk I forgot again. You should go, you know that? But don’t drive, otherwise you won’t live to tell Annie how much you _lovveee_ her.” Britta said, standing up and stretching her arms.

“We need to stop doing this.”

“What do you mean by that?” Britta said, her drunken face slightly confused.

“We need to stop being such broken people, you know? Stop… ruining ourselves. Start doing stuff that actually helps. Like, Annie. She always helps herself because she knows what she’s doing. Yeah, we just need to be like Annie."

“Ugh, how can you even do Winger speeches when you’re drunk? And you made it even worse by being all love struck… what was it that Annie said? You’re like a… a…” Britta rubbed her head, trying to think back to Annie’s message.

“A love struck teeny-bopper.”


	5. Week Five

It was a few days after Annie had heard the phone click off whilst she was leaving a message, and she was finally starting to go through a day without Jeff in her thoughts. She felt better having admitted it all, knowing he was on the end, knowing he was there with her on this _slight_ progression. She didn’t know what it meant that she was able to actually get work done now, whether it meant that perhaps it had been a full revelation (maybe that was the end of the will-they-might-they situation?) or whether it meant that they could move further with what they had… either way she was happy, but Jeff? She didn’t really know.

Jeff was also in fact, _happy,_ he just hadn’t spoken to her about the whole thing yet though. The only person he’d spoken to was Britta and that hadn’t exactly gone to plan after their drunken night in. He was doing better though, knowing exactly how Annie felt… well, sort of… her message had still been quite vague, but what else was she meant to have said? It was more than Jeff had ever admitted and he couldn’t argue about that.

But again, he was _happy_ and he could get back to finishing up with his distractions, starting off with going to visit one of the houses he’d put down for interest. It wasn’t as if he could afford to buy one, but renting would do for now, especially as he didn’t _really_ have anyone to share the expanded living space with.

* * *

 

“So, this is the living room, once again fully furnished other than the coffee table and things like the TV. Very spacious and a good amount of room for the young ones to run around, right?” The estate agent said, waving his hand around at the grey couch that sat in the middle of the spacious room. Jeff scratched his chin, then blinked a few times, realising what the man had said… Jeff decided to play it cool, even with the fact that he definitely didn’t have any young ones… _yet._

And then when Jeff was led back outside onto the small patch of front lawn, Jeff felt even better. It wasn’t a great place and the surroundings weren’t exactly perfect but for some reason, after everything, it wasn’t that important to Jeff. He wanted to make it work and he wanted to make this change… so he did.

“I’ll, err, I’ll take it.”

* * *

 

At the end of the week, Jeff was already starting on his packing. It wasn’t as if he had much to pack away but it filled his time and he found it comforting to pack away random bits and bobs he’d gathered throughout the years. He even discovered the purple curtains that Annie had thrown up at Christmas one year, so he stuffed them in a box, _just in case._ On the note of Annie and his positivity, he stood up and pulled his phone out of his pocket, snapped a picture and sent her a similar looking view of boxes that she’d sent to him when she was moving out.

 _JEFF:_ [Picture attachment] Guess I’m moving out x

 _ANNIE:_  That’s really great, Jeff. We should talk sometime? X

 _JEFF:_ Yeah, tell me when x

Annie noted that not a lot had changed but the addition of a ‘x’ on the end of Jeff’s messages made her smile. She did feel slightly glum that he hadn’t called her back but it was understandable, so she let it slide.

* * *

 

Jeff didn’t even mind having Britta over to help pack because he finally didn’t feel tense in anyone else knowing is business… it was all out on the table and it was a huge relief… well other than the fact that she wouldn’t drop the ‘Jeff loves Annie’ nonsense.

“So have you spoken to Annie since you know… _the phone call?”_ Britta said, teasing slightly with a touch of mystery in her voice. Jeff rolled his eyes whilst throwing a blanket over to her.

“If you really want to know… no, I haven’t, but neither has she, so…”

“So…? She’s probably dying for you to reply. You haven’t even sent so much as a text message?" Britta squinted back at him.

“Calm down, of course I have… I just… she said we should talk but I don’t really know what that means when it comes to Annie. What do _you_ think it means?” Jeff chucked another piece of soft fabric in Britta’s direction.

“Hmm… it probably means she’s pissed that you haven’t called _or_ it means she wants to… _talk._ ” Britta said, wiggling her eyebrows but then scrunching her face up at the thought… Jeff making a similar expression.

“I will call, don’t worry.”

* * *

 

So of course, five minutes after Britta exited his apartment next door to the Dean for one of the last times, he picked up his phone and pressed call.

“Hey, is this a good time?” He asked, crossing one arm over to the other that held the phone.

“Hey! Oh, yeah, sure. I’m just eating my dinner – Pasta, if you’re interested.” Jeff laughed a little at the extra detail, scratching his head at the same time.

“Cool, well, you wanted to talk… I, err, got your message… it was… you know…” Jeff trailed off, not really sure how to describe it.

“Interesting?” Annie piped up, the clatter of her fork echoing down the phone.

“Hmm… it’s… my fault that you don’t know how to feel… and you’re right, you don’t need this but… I’m glad you’re not saying no to whatever because… you mean a lot to me.” Jeff admitted. Annie twisted her eyebrows, her lips parting in pause slightly before speaking.

“Yeah… well… you should know that you mean a lot to me too… and that it’s quite likely I will be coming back… I still haven’t got enough experience to actually get a job here so it might mean coming back but… again, I don’t know and now I’m rambling, _again._ ” Jeff smiled, not minding that she was rambling because just like her three-page essay, it felt like she was just there with him.

“Well Greendale kinda’ misses you so when you _do_ come back on an obligatory trip, you don’t need to worry about a place to stay… I have a whole spare room more, aren’t I moving up in the world?” Jeff joked, making Annie smile herself.

“Are you having a moving in get together? Because if you are, I have to be part of the fun too… I can help plan via video call, right?” Jeff could _hear_ her smile.

“Well actually… I’m thinking of getting my mom to stay… I haven’t seen her in a while and although I might not own the new place, it feels like the right time to reunite.”

“Yeah, that sounds nice… and if you need moral support, again, I can do video call?” Annie laughed a little.

“I think I’ll be okay… speaking of okay, are _you_ okay?” Jeff asked, wobbling back and forth on the balls of his feet.

“I’m okay, don’t worry. Only three weeks to go until it’s all over! Time flies when you’re having as much fun as you can looking over murder files… yup.”

“Sounds _delightful.”_

“Oh it is. I’ve gotten a really good insight on how to kill people without _anyone_ finding out, and I mean… _anyone…_ so be careful Jeff, I’m coming for you.” Annie teased, making Jeff laugh again.

“Don’t they like, track your calls or something? You probably shouldn’t joke about it but err, just in case anyone is listening in… I’m your lawyer when you need me.” Annie laughed back. They both once again felt happy and content with each other and that was probably one of the best feelings either of them could share right now.

“Thanks… well, err, oh, looks like my roommate is back…. Wait, when are you moving again?” Annie stood up, balancing her phone between her shoulder and ear to pick up her dirty dishes.

“Err, in ten days? I’ll let you know how the whole ‘mom reunion’ goes.”

“Cool, well speak soon… bye Jeff.”

“Bye.” _Love you,_ is what his heart wanted to say; _Miss you,_ is what his mind wanted to say… but all his lips and vocal cords could manage was one word… for now.


	6. Week Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first attempt at parallels or whatever... I think!? #FanficNoob

Jeff was all ready and raring to go for his ‘big’ move out of his apartment on Friday, whilst Annie began her final couple of weeks at her internship… it was an exciting time for both of them.

Annie sat down with her friends and colleagues for lunch, smiling away happily as a conversation floated around, ending on the topic of education, which made Annie feel slightly nervous if she was going to be honest. It wasn’t as if she was ashamed for going to Greendale, in fact she was rather proud of the fact she’d stayed on so long and helped improve it as much as she had, but of course the fact that no one would have a clue where she was talking about made her feel quite intimidated by all of the more affluent and perhaps more intelligent graduates sat around the table with her.

“So, Annie, which college did you go to again?” Someone piped up from the end of the bench, all of the other pairs of eyes pointing towards her.

“Oh… err…” She gulped.

* * *

 

“ _Greendale Memorabilia…_ are you sure Annie’s not secretly hidden in your closet? She really must have got to you for you to have labelled all of these boxes so well.” Britta said, tilting the box at an angle. Jeff rolled his eyes as he carried three boxes towered on top of each other out to his car, a blanket spread over the back seats to avoid any scuffing of his Lexus.

“I… can’t… take… anymore… of… your… crap… Wing…er…” Chang puffed, beads of sweat dripping down his forehead. Jeff pulled a confused face, unsure as to why he was struggling so much when he’d only taken two boxes from upstairs.

“Seriously Chang?” Jeff shook his head and walked back upstairs to find Craig stood in the hallway, only an unzipped hoodie (half) covering his bare chest.

“Ooh Jeffrey, there you are… can I just ask, whereabouts are you moving to again? Silly old me has forgotten…” Craig scratched behind his glasses, which received an irritated glare from Jeff. The Dean rolled his eyes as he walked passed, carrying another tower of boxes.

Once Jeff was outside again, Britta of course piped up at why he hadn’t answered Craig’s question.

“Because, if I tell him that Britta, I’ll be sexually harassed for another six years because he decides to move in next door. I am not telling the Dean.”

* * *

 

“…err, I went to a small college in Colorado… it’s called Greendale Community College? I know it doesn’t sound like much but it really is a _great_ school.” Annie said, smiling brightly after her nervous pause. The group around her nodded but it was fairly obvious that they really did have _no_ idea where Greendale was.

As the conversation moved on from education, Annie mumbled out loud to herself, her voice slowly fading into a non-existent whisper…

“It was rated the second best community college on… Greendale Community College dot com…”

* * *

 

“And here we are… my new one floor humble abode… yes, I do live in a bungalow, but I’m pretty sure both of you have been homeless in the past year so, you can save any remarks for when that never happens to me.”

“Erm… weren’t you the one living in your car that time?” Britta said, unstrapping herself from Jeff’s front passenger seat.

“Erm… weren’t you the one who started last year at Greendale in a tent, ‘raising awareness for homeless people’?”

“Erm… homeless people need awareness Jeff, it’s a _big_ deal that our society ignores.”

“Says the woman who won’t donate money to a homeless person unless someone else is there to witness the amazingness of ‘selfless Britta’.” Jeff said, tilting his head towards her with gritted teeth. Jeff finally got out of the car, checking around for any Honda’s hovering about (just in case Craig had decided to follow). Luckily it seemed he’d got away without a stalker on his tail but the thought still lingered in his mind.

A while later, the living room of his new place was scattered with bubble wrap and cardboard, a lonesome Jeff sat on the couch, his arms stretched back behind his head. Britta and Chang were off doing their own thing now; Britta most likely at her bar and Chang… well, he was just being Chang.

So, Jeff picked himself up, locked the door behind him, got back in his car and drove to the local mall. If he was going to do this ‘changes’ thing right, he needed to spruce things up, right?

He headed towards a décor shop, going aisle by aisle to see anything that stood out, Jeff was already starting to think with the exact state of mind he was trying to avoid as all he could think of was… _would Annie like that?_

His basket was already filling up with different sized frames, some sort of white ceramic giraffe that was half price, some wooden coasters and a tray and a silver vase that had caught his eye. That’s when he hit the pillow aisle though… _I need Annie,_ he thought at the sight. He grabbed another basket as he browsed the selection, picking out two – one green, one grey, and then a slightly larger, dark pink and texturized one that he realised would probably match her collection already. He nodded and moved on, realising that there was no way he was going to be coming out of the shop empty handed.

* * *

 

Annie was also thinking similarly as she ordered from her local fast food chain, indulging herself after a long day of feeling pretty rubbish. She knew Jeff was moving in but felt even worse when she hadn’t received any updates or pictures. She sighed though, realising that he was probably dealing with more important things. She checked her other messages in the queue too but once again, nothing popped up.

She walked home, a sad spring in her step as she pushed through her apartment door, being greeted by her roommate making out as usual. She gulped, walked into her room, shut the door, slumped down on her bed and dug into a fatty burger and fries. _I don’t need to have been to a fancy college… I have good fooood,_ she whispered to herself.

* * *

 

 _Do I need that? Probably not…._ Jeff thought as he put a throw into his shopping cart (he’d ditched the baskets a long while ago). He’d already picked out the bedding for both his room and the spare, once again, only really thinking of Annie as a guest and what she’d prefer. He’d opted for a pink pin-stripe duvet, a grey throw and several colourful pillows for her and a blue and grey stripe for him with some mustard yellow pillows in different shapes… he told himself the matching element was ‘unintentional’.

After a good two (or maybe three) hours, Jeff stuffed all of the new pieces into his car and sat in the front, scanning the receipt in his hands… $421.52… and that was _without_ the coffee table that he still needed to buy. He gulped… _Annie, what have you done to me…_

He laughed though, pulling out his phone and snapping a picture of the ridiculously long piece of paper.

 _JEFF:_  [Picture attachment] I hate you.

 _ANNIE:_  ERR… How is this my fault?!?

 _JEFF:_ Because… I would never have spent that much on décor before I met you.

 _ANNIE:_  Still don’t see how that’s my fault…!!

 _JEFF:_  It just is… I bought PINK pillows.

 _ANNIE:_ Hehe, why?!

 _JEFF:_  FOR YOU!

 _ANNIE:_  Err… since when did you decide I was moving in too?!

 _JEFF:_  It’s for when you come over… I told you, you’re obliged to, even for a week.

 _ANNIE:_  What if I stay at my old place with Britta? ;)

 _JEFF:_  I’ll burn all of the stuff you’ve left behind.

 _ANNIE:_  ;)

 _JEFF:_  Should probably get home… might actually invite Britta and Chang back round for drinks.

 _ANNIE:_ Fancy, have fun!

 _JEFF:_  We’ll miss you…

 _ANNIE:_  Err… don’t you mean; you’ll miss me? ;)

 _JEFF:_  I will… x

 _ANNIE:_ Xx

* * *

 

After Jeff unpacked all of his new décor pieces and tidied around as much as he could, he texted the group… including the Dean which was a hard decision to make. A while later he found himself among his friends, chatting, laughing and drinking away to celebrate his new place.

They all agreed it needed some sprucing up but Jeff didn’t mind, it was bigger than his old place and that’s all that mattered. When the topic came up, with his slightly tipsy mind, he went over to his pile of new things and started to show them off, to which he received a few sniggers from Chang and Britta. Frankie thought it was sweet how he’d gone to so much effort, oblivious to the fact that he’d gone to so much effort for _someone._

Britta caught onto the pink theme and the endless amount of pillows realising his choices must have been Annie inspired. She rolled her eyes of course but in a way, just like Frankie, found it sort of sweet… even if a part of her was _slightly_ jealous.

Jeff sat down, sipping at a beer that Chang had brought over when he felt a buzz in his pocket. He picked it up, ‘Shhh’-ing everyone in the room when he read the caller ID.

“Shh, it’s Annie.” Jeff put the phone to his ear, his ‘Shhh’-ing finger still pointed out.

“Ooooh, Winger’s girlfriend wants to know if he’s having fun without her…!” Chang teased, making Jeff grit his teeth. He’d clicked the answer button so Annie was hearing the whole conversation…

“She’s not my girlfriend Chang.” Jeff shot him down.

“I think it’s nice you and Annie are so close…” Frankie said, not knowing the full story and the fact that Jeff was now wondering if Britta had told anyone about Annie’s message.

“Yeah, they’re _SO_ in love….” Britta teased, standing up and making a heart sign with her hand. Jeff pulled out a tongue, standing up and waltzing into the kitchen; Annie still listening on, rolling her own eyes at the statements.

But Jeff wasn’t left alone, Britta and her tipsy brain had followed him into the kitchen, poking and prodding him and slurring out soppier comments.

“Ooooh, Annie, Jeff _loves_ you…” Jeff batted her away, his hand swaying in a different direction with the phone, a noise crackling down the other end to Annie. As Britta (and now Chang) start clawing at Jeff, he pressed the phone to his ear as fast as he could before it was snapped away…

“Ignore them, they’re drunk… you okay?”

“Ooooh, you okay Little Annie Edison?” Chang cooed in the background. Jeff swayed the phone out of his way, missing Annie reply to his question.

“I’m fine…” She said quietly, before cutting the phone off. She didn’t feel angry, in fact, she wasn’t sure what she felt… perhaps jealousy at the fact that they were all having fun without her? Or maybe even just _happy_ for her friends…?

Jeff pushed the phone back to his ear, pushing past Britta.

“Annie? Annie?” He called, then looked at the screen to see she’d cut off a few minutes ago.

“Thanks for that guys.” He said, flashing the screen back to everyone to show the call had ended early. Britta rolled her eyes, Chang acted innocently, Frankie sipped at her wine and the Dean pulled a sad face (partly about the call, and partly at the fact that Annie was stealing Jeff away from him).


	7. Week Seven

The spare room in Jeff’s new place was now a mix of pink pillows and gym equipment that he’d indulged himself in after realising he could move another piece of furniture into the living room and use it as the coffee table he’d yet to buy. He now had a bit more of a routine; he woke up, had a strong black coffee, changed into his gym gear, went on a run (whilst listening to music), did some weights, did some push ups, had a shower and then well… filled as much time as he could to play pointless games on his phone.

Today though, he had to finish up some frames that he’d started to fill, knocking a few small nails into the wall, a hammer in one hand and the nails gritted between his teeth. As he went to bang the final one in though, the doorbell rang and he whacked his thumb slightly.

“Ah, _crap._ ” He said, pulling back and walking to the door, forgetting that he’d not been bothered enough to put a shirt back on after his shower. He hesitated before opening the entrance to see a wide eyed Britta.

“What do you want?” He moaned slightly, pulling a spare nail from his mouth. Britta stared back, gulping slightly and scratching her head to try and distract herself from Jeff’s unclothed torso. She couldn’t lie to herself… he was still darn attractive to her.

“Jeez, I hope you’re doing well too… I’m just dropping by because I’m pretty sure I left my glasses here last week.” She said, nosing her head into the room before brushing under his muscular arm that was resting on the doorframe.

“Oh sure, just let yourself in… but you did actually, I didn’t bring them round because I thought they were just to make you look more… like a phycologist?” Jeff asked, closing the door behind him.

“Oh shut up, even you can admit they make me look more attractive.” She said, stuffing her glasses into her bag from the kitchen, before stopping and perusing over the frames and picture selections that were spread across the counter. She pulled an ‘Interesting…’ face before picking up one and flashing it back to Jeff, who was now in a tank top that’d he’d grabbed from the couch.

“You even have _pictures_ of the two of you, huh?” Britta pointed to the piece of paper in her hand that had a printed photo of Jeff and Annie huddled together – one they’d taken on his Greendale graduation day. He concealed a smirk, walking over and grabbing it from her hand.

“We’re friends, okay? There’s a picture of me and you somewhere there.” He said, hanging up a group picture above the microwave.

“Err… yeah, one where I’m dressed up as a ‘cool cat’?!”

“Oh come on, I look great in that picture.” He said with a ridiculous grin, laughing at her eye roll reaction.

“I’m going to leave you to stare at pictures of Annie… and oh my god Jeff, is this a _screenshot?!_ ” She said, shaking a small frame vigorously as she realised that it was a screenshot of Jeff and Annie from Abed’s space film where Annie was wearing her rather revealing costume, pushed up against Jeff’s almost bare chest.

“What? It’s a memory?” He said trying to justify it.

“Are you sure Annie’s not going to be _really_ creeped out by this? I mean, _I am!_ ”

“Oh come on! Most of these pictures are of all of us… I even have ones with Pierce in there.” Jeff scrunched up his shoulders and gestured in defence.

“Why did you crop me out then?”

“You wouldn’t fit in the frame!” He said, partly lying and partly telling the truth. Britta rolled her eyes again before waving goodbye and leaving Jeff alone again. He rolled his own eyes as he lent on the counter, wondering if he was being a bit extreme… but he pushed past it, another part of his mind taking over, thinking again about the fact that the pictures were all _memories,_ no matter who was in the picture.

When he looks at the screenshot of himself and Annie, he doesn’t just see her rather revealing costume, he sees the amount of effort everyone went into to make something so stupid actually look half decent. When he looks at himself and Britta dressed up as ‘cool cats’, he doesn’t just see how good he looks in a leather jacket, he sees Pierce in the background with his multi-coloured afro wig. When he looks at _another_ picture of himself and Annie… well actually, all he sees is a girl he loves.

* * *

 

Annie is fretting slightly as she sits outside the HR manager’s office at her internship, wondering why she’d been called in for a meeting. It was her last week, but knowing it could still be bad news didn’t exactly comfort her.

“You can come in now.” The HR assistant called from the door, to which Annie smiled back politely.

“Miss Edison, please, take a seat.” Like most of the FBI offices, the room was clean and clinical but with towers of paperwork scattered around and several large filing cabinets that looked like they’d taken a battering over the years. Annie nodded, sitting down in the plush spinning chair in front of the desk.

“There’s no cause for alarm, so you can relax… I just wanted to call you in here as you have been an excellent addition to our team over the past couple of months and we’re thrilled that you’ve enjoyed interning for us.” Annie did eventually relax, her shoulders dropping slightly. _Thank the lord,_ she thought.

“As you will already know though, you will need to work a bit further in terms of experience before you can apply for an official position… so we’ve got a few options for you to have a look over as we would really love to see you back.” The man sat opposite from her who she’d only spoken to briefly on the phone, lent forward and passed her a few leaflets and sheets of paper, all highly detailed.

“First of all you could work on earning a few more credits in forensics, purely from an educational stand point, or perhaps you would be interested in looking into Quantico, which I’m sure you’d be more interested in… but we do have a third and final option; there’s an office in Colorado where you were based previously, and we would be open to giving you a part-time position in a different department. It might not be the position you’re looking for but it could still be a great start for you.”

* * *

 

“So wait – they’re giving you a job in Colorado?” Jeff said over video-call, crossing his arms in confusion.

“Well, they said they’d be _open_ to giving me a part-time position but… I’m still not sure what it is and… Quantico would be an _amazing_ opportunity and I’m much more likely to get in now that I’ve completed my internship. But then again, if I took the part-time job, I could fill the rest of my time at Greendale earning those extra credits…” Annie twisted her lip and bit the inside of her cheek in frustration. Jeff gritted his teeth too, understanding what a big decision she had to make.

“Well, I find a great way to make decisions is to flip a coin and whilst it’s spinning… you’ll work out which side you _really_ want it to land on… my mom taught me it.” He laughed slightly, gritting his teeth once more.

“Can you flip one?” Annie asked, her eyebrows twisting and her eyes pleading. Jeff nodded, slipping a hand into his tight jeans.

“Okay, we’ll do heads for Colorado and heads for Quantico. Now, just think.” Jeff said, before flicking the coin into the air, every second feeling like a minute.

 _I’m kind of hoping it will land on Greendale,_ Jeff thought… _but that’s probably not what’s best for Annie…_ he added to himself.

 _Greendale is home… what about Jeff? We’d never know… but going to Quantico would be a dream…_ Annie sighed.

“Wait stop.” Jeff caught the coin, before it had time to make the decision.

“ _I can’t believe I’m going to say this…”_ He muttered, “…but… in a way, Abed’s right about this whole, timeline thing. If you make a decision like this, it should be done logically and not just out of the fact that you can’t decide in one go… if it were to land on Greendale, you’d always wonder what would have happened if you’d gone to Quantico, the place which is _meant_ for this, and if it were to land on Quantico… well, you’d also always wonder because… you _love_ Greendale.”

Annie sighed, knowing that what Jeff was saying was right… but then she thought back to something Jeff had said before… “when you _do_ come back on an obligatory trip” …

“I have enough time to decide if I come back for like, two weeks though right? My obligatory trip?”

Jeff’s eyes brightened at the thought. He looked up and smiled a little.

“Yeah, two weeks should do the trick… no less, no more.”


	8. Week Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter to PART TWO of the "BUT I LET YOU GO" series. Don't worry though, PART THREE will be coming very soon!

Annie had started packing her things for her fortnight stay back at home in Greendale. It was confirmed that she would indeed be staying at Jeff’s, not only because he’d insisted, but also because Britta was ‘afraid her arrival might upset her new cat, Mr Sniffles’ (named Mr Sniffles because he constantly has a runny nose) … which was code that she’d yet to do any cleaning and was embarrassed at the state she’d left the 303 apartment whilst Annie was away. Oh and also because Britta knew about Jeff’s little ‘Annie secret’, so she’d let him take her in so they could talk things over.

Jeff’s place was now spick and span; he’d taken the gym equipment from Annie’s room and packed it away in a box in the living room, made the bed, tidied around and locked the door as soon as she’d confirmed her flight details.

He’d asked her what she’d like for her first dinner but she’d settled on a take-away so his shopping list was shortened and bought a couple of essentials that he’d thought she’d appreciate. He’d also picked up a quick gift (a new notebook and slightly pricey pen) because just a few days earlier a moving in present had arrived all the way from DC.

Jeff had unwrapped it with a confused look on his face before realising who it was from, his facial expression quickly changing into a smile when he opened up a box of kitchen essentials, including a couple of cheesy shot glasses she’d found in a tacky souvenir shop… the note inside the box, read:

_JUST A FEW ESSENTIALS… OH AND THESE AWFUL SHOT GLASSES BECAUSE I KNOW YOU WON’T EVER THROW THEM AWAY KNOWING THEY’RE FROM ME ;) HOPE YOUR NEW PLACE IS GOOD… ANNIE XX_

He laughed before unwrapping the items, placing the shot glasses on his bar trolley and scrunching up the tissue paper for the bin. It was true, he was going to be stuck with the shot glasses forever…

* * *

It was just one day to go until Annie’s arrival and Jeff was sat at home twiddling his thumbs. It wasn’t just a day until Annie arrived though, it was also a week until he was due to start his classes back at Greendale, meaning although he had a very detailed idea of what he wanted to do with Annie (…one idea he’d thought about a couple of times more than the others… but his hopes weren’t very high), he also needed to get cracking with lesson plans.

He’d decided along with changing his _address_ , he needed to change his mind-set and that started with actually making an effort as a teacher. Even in his second year, he was still playing tapes of Planet Earth and even _he_ was getting bored of that. It was time for real change…

He got his bum off the sofa, headed to his bookshelf of very few books and grabbed a couple of the ones that Annie had found him on that second day of cheating. The ridiculous thing was the fact that all though he’d said he hated her (he didn’t of course), he’d taken the books with him, knowing that she was right. Of course she was though, he thought, _Annie’s always right._

* * *

_Jeff’s right… two weeks will be plenty of time to make my decision…_ Annie thought, zipping up her case for the last time before brushing her hair down, saying her goodbyes to the apartment and her roommate who’d she’d not really spoken to that much, and stepping out of the door. _Here we go…_

An hour later she was sat in the departure lounge of the airport, tapping her foot to the music on the overhead speakers. She _only_ had _another_ hour to wait, but she was the sort of person who’d rather be _super_ safe than sorry.

 _ANNIE:_  Sat waiting, just another hour to go!

 _JEFF:_ That’s what you get for being over organised.

 _ANNIE:_ Oh well, I don’t mind, I’m replying to emails to distract myself from the really shifty guy who I’m pretty sure is going on my flight too.

 _JEFF:_ I am also being administrative – lesson planning – you should be proud.

 _ANNIE:  _Ooooh, I am! Good on you :)

 _JEFF:_ Shh.

 _ANNIE:_  It’s good, seriously! I look forward to seeing what you have planned.

 _JEFF:_ Yeah, definitely going to need your help.

 _ANNIE: _ I thought this was meant to be a holiday week? You’re saying I have to do work for YOU?! :O

 _JEFF:_ I’ll find a reward; don’t you worry… ;)

 _ANNIE:_ I like surprises :)

 _JEFF:_ No pressure…

 _ANNIE:_ ;)

 _JEFF:_ I need to pick you up at 6, right?

 _ANNIE:_  Yup, I’ll text you when land.

 _JEFF:_ Cool.

 _ANNIE:_ Speak soon!

 _JEFF:_ Safe flight x

 _ANNIE:_ Xx

* * *

 

 Jeff picked up Britta from her bar, driving all the way to the airport listening to her awful selection of music, even after Jeff’s constant whining… or Britta’s, because her singing also sounded like a high pitch whine.

For once in his life, Jeff was early for something, parking up outside Arrivals at 5:45pm, leaning up against the car as Britta carried on singing in the front seat. He looked at his watch and shrugged, bending down to the window and calling over the music. Britta finally flicked it off to hear what he was saying.

“Are you coming?” He said, his hand rested on his Lexus’ roof.

“Jeff, really? You think I should come to your little reunion?” Britta said with a wide lipped smile, her eyebrows raising.

“It’s not a… I don’t even care, are you coming or what?” He said, trying to ignore her statement.

“I’ll stay here, you go and get Annie. _I’m_ not the one who got a phone call saying ‘you mean a lot to me’.” Jeff rolled his eyes and backed away, before quickly turning around again.

“Don’t mention that, okay? I don’t want her to know I told you.” He spun back around on his heels, walking past a bus that was parked up. It felt like just yesterday that he was back at the airport dropping her and Abed off… _I guess this summer wasn’t too bad after all,_ he thought. 


End file.
